Do people often use the word "fire" (noun) to refer to enthusiasm?
This is a topic at my English Speaking Club: "Fire in young people, is it strong enough in this modern world?" (the topic is about young people's enthusiasm).

However, when I look for information about this topic on the Internet to prepare for discussing, I find that people don't use "fire in young people" very often to refer to enthusiasm.

As English native speakers, could you explain this to me? I would also really appreciate it if you could suggest me any other more suitable phrases with the same meaning?

Question

Do people often use the word "fire" (noun) to refer to enthusiasm?
This is a topic at my English Speaking Club: "Fire in young people, is it strong enough in this modern world?" (the topic is about young people's enthusiasm).

However, when I look for information about this topic on the Internet to prepare for discussing, I find that people don't use "fire in young people" very often to refer to enthusiasm.

As English native speakers, could you explain this to me? I would also really appreciate it if you could suggest me any other more suitable phrases with the same meaning?

Answer

Yes.

FIre is very energetic, volatile and exciting. For a person or personality to 'firey' or 'have fire' means that they are excited and enthusiastic and passionate.

Other forms you may see:
'Fired up', which means that someone is ready to act, that is, ready to burst with fire (as used above).
'He had fire in his heart/soul/eyes': The heart, soul and eyes are used a lot to symbolise feeling and passion, so having fire in those places means that they are very passionate and willing to act.

Answer

Hi Veronica,maybe the significance of "fire" and "enthusiasm" sounds quite similar,but there's still some differences between them in this case:
1,"Fire"(noun) means "fervour,spirit,vivacity" and it's often used like literature like "poetic inspiration".
2,"Enthusiasm"(noun) means "strong interest or admiration,great eagerness,or keenness...about/for st"---and in our daily life,we often use "enthusiasm" more than "fire".
Do you understand?Feel free when using them,which words to use is to depends on context or expressive nuance.

Answer

yeah you can use fire to describe it. People may not use it often, but they will generally understand what you mean.

Here are some other words that I think will fit:

Ambition

Drive

Passion

Aspiration

Desires

Dreams

Purpose

Zeal

Fervor

Answer

best way to relate fire is to call it a burning desire. :D
fire is used to describe peak of enthusiasm. 
do not use fire always to describe enthusiasm.  FIre relates more with passion or desire than with enthusiasm. 
Hope this helps :)

Answer

hmm, if you just say "Fire in young people," it is to ambiguous, you have to say a little more to make it specific. Someone might ask, what the "fire represents." Then you would reply with enthusiasm and the person would understand.